Remote control switching circuit



Npv. 14, 1961 M. STIMLER ETAL 3,009,082

REMOTE CONTROL swncnmc CIRCUIT Filed June 28, 195 7 ,26 BA J IlNVENTORS.

MORTON STIMLER JOSEPH W. WILLIS ATTYS.

United States Patent 3,009,082 REMOTE CONTROL SWITCHING CIRCUIT MortonStimler, Silver Spring, and Joseph W. Willis,

Garrett Park, Md., assignors to the United States of America asrepresented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed June 28, 1957, Ser. No.672,842 4 Claims. (Cl. 317-151) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code(1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured andused by or for the Government of the United States of America forgovernmental purposes without the payrnent of any royalties thereon ortherefor.

This invention relates to electrical control systems and moreparticularly to a system for controlling a single relay flip-flopcircuit in response to an input signal applied thereto. In accordancewith the instant invention a control relay is induced to respond to acontrol impulse applied thereto in a manner to produce a flip-flopoperation of the relay i.e. to cause the relay to operate alternativelyfrom a first condition of operation to a second condition of operationin response to each impulse received.

Several circuit arrangements have heretofore been proposed for achievingthis result in which ratchet or impulse type relays or latching relayshave been employed.

This result is achieved in accordance with the instant invention by asingle relay having two control windings thereon which are selectivelyoperated by an electrical impulse of short duration applied thereto insuch manner that the windings are energized selectively in alternateorder by the impulse applied thereto whereby the relay is caused toperform a flip-flop operation as each impulse is received, as will moreclearly be apparent as the description proceeds.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a new and improvedrelay flip-flop circuit which is economical to produce and possesses allthe qualities of durability and reliability in service.

Another object is to provide a new and improved flip-fiop relay circuitcontrolled by a condenser discharge in such manner that only a singlerelay operation is effected by the discharge current of the condenser.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwillbe readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the single figure of the accompanying drawing.

Referring now to the drawing for a more complete understanding of theinvention there is shown thereon a relay indicated generally by thenumeral 9 comprising a pair of magnetic cores 10 and .11 and having apair of relay windings 12 and 13 disposed respectively thereon. Anarmature 14 pivoted at 15 composed of magnetic material and magnetizedpermanently as shown is adapted to be brought into engagement with theend surfaces of the cores 10 and 11 selectively in accordance with theenergized condition of coils 12 and 13 and adapted to remain inengagement with the end of the selected core by magnetic attractionafter the current to the operating coil has been discontinued. The coils12- 13 are preferably connected to ground as by conductor '16, the otherends of the coils or windings being connected to contacts 17 and 18respectively whereby an electrical circuit is established between thecoils 12 and 13 in the arma ture 14 selectively in accordance with theinstant position of the armature. Coil 12 has connected thereacross acondenser indicated by the numeral 19 and in like manner coil 13 hasconnected thereacross a condenser 21 which, preferably, is of the samecapacity as the condenser 19.

The relay may also be provided with a pair of contacts 22 and 23engageable selectively by the contact spring 24 in accordance with theinstant set position of Patented Nov. 14, 1961 armature 14 as shown,spring 24 being electrically insulated from the armature by insulatingmember 20. These contacts may be advantageously employed for controllingan output circuit indicated generally by numeral 25.

There is also provided a condenser 26 having one of the terminalsthereof connected by conductor 16 to the coils or windings 12-13 and theother terminal connected to the movable element 27 of a control switch28. Switch 28 is provided with a pair of contacts 29 and 3-1 engageableselectively by the movable element 27, contact 31 being connected toarmature 14 as by conductor 32. Electrical power for the operation ofthe circuit is obtained from battery BA having one terminal thereofconnected to conductor 16 and the other terminal connected to contact 29of the control switch.

The operation of the flip-flop circuit will now be described. Let it beassumed, by way of example, that armature 14 is in the position shown inthe drawing and that movable element 27 has been moved into engagementwith contact 29 thereby charging condenser 26 to the potential ofbattery BA.

Movable element 27 is now moved into engagement with contact 31 of thecontrol switch. When this occurs the potential at condenser 26 isapplied by way of conductor 32, armature 14 and contact 17 of the relayto condenser 19 and coil 12 of the relay in parallel from whence thecircuit is continued by way of conductor 16 to the other terminal ofcondenser 26. Condenser 19 now receives a charge from condenser 26 andconcurrently therewith an electric current flows through winding 12 ofthe relay. When condenser 19 has charged to a value of voltagesufiicient, the end N of the armature 14 is moved from the positionshown on the drawing into engagement with the end of core 10 upon whichcoil 12 is mounted. As the end N of armature 14 moves away from contact17, the circuit to condenser 26 is interrupted but current continues toflow through coil 12 from the condenser 19 thereby assuring positive andreliable operation of the armature which continues movement until theend of core 10 is engaged thereby.

As end N of armature 14 moves into engagement with the core 10 theopposite end 8 thereof engages contact 18 thereby closing a circuit fromcondenser 26 to coil 13 and condenser 21 in parallel therewith.Condenser 21 starts to charge as this circuit is closed but does notattain a voltage sufficiently high to cause the end S of armature 14 tobe moved toward the end of core 11 about which coil 13 is disposed byreason of the fact that the charge on condenser 26 at this time isinsufficient to charge condenser 21 to this value of voltage. The relay,therefore, makes but a single operation for each closure of the movableelement 27 of the control switch with contact 31 thereof. A cycle ofoperations has now been completed during which contact spring 24 hasbeen disengaged from contact 22 and moved into engagement with contact23 thereby to efiect a control of the output circuit 25.

When it is desired to reoperate the flip-flop relay, element 27 is firstmoved into engagement with contact 29 thereby charging condenser 26 tothe potential of battery BA. When this has been done, movable element 27is moved into engagement with contact 31 thereby applying the voltage ofthe condenser by way of armature 14 and contact 18 to winding 13 of therelay and condenser 21 in parallel therewith. When condenser 21 hascharged to a voltage suflicient for the relay to operate, coil 13attracts the S end of armature 14 thereby disconnecting at contact 18the circuit to condenser 26. The winding 13 remains energized, however,by the discharge current of condenser 21 sufiiciently to insure completeoperation of the relay. As the relay operates to the position shown onthe drawing, the condenser 26 is reconnected by way of contact '17 andarmature 14 to coil 12 and condenser 19 in parallel therewith but thiscircuit is without effect at this time for the reason that the charge oncondenser 26 has been decreased sufficiently to prevent condenser 19from charging to a value of voltage sufficient to move the end N fromthe position of rest shown in the drawing in a direction toward the endof the core about which coil 12 is disposed. Movement of the armature tothe position shown on the drawing causes the contact member 23 to bedisengaged from contact spring 24 and the contact spring 24 to be movedinto engagement with contact 22 thereby applying a second control signalto the output circuit 25.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. A flip-flop circuit comprising a two-position relay having amagnetized armature pivoted for movement selectively in either directionto two positions of rest, a pair of magnetic cores constructed andarranged to be engaged at the end face portions thereof selectively byan end portion of said armature when the armature is in either of saidpositions of rest, a pair of relay windings, each of said windings beingdisposed about one of said cores, a pair of contacts, each of saidcontacts being connected to one end of said windings and adapted toclose a circuit thereto when the end of the armature opposite each ofsaid windings is moved to a position of rest furtherest removedtherefrom, a pair of condensers, each of said condensers being connectedin parallel with one of said windings, a source of electrical power, athird condenser, means including a switching element connected to saidthird condenser for connecting said third condenser in parallel withsaid source of power to charge said third condenser to the voltage ofsaid source of power and thereafter connecting the charged condenser tosaid relay in a manner to apply the voltage thereof to said armature andto one of said windings and condenser connected in parallel therewith byway of one of said contacts thereby to move the armature from one ofsaid positions of rest to the other position of rest by dischargecurrent from the third condenser flowing through said last namedwinding.

2. A flip-flop circuit for the remote disablement of a relay circuit andfor subsequent enablement thereof by the application of a momentaryunidirectional current pulse of predetermined polarity from thedischarge of a capacitor comprising, in combination, a double actingrelay having two control windings thereon, a source of unidirectionalpotential, a normally open relay control circuit including a capacitor,a control switch having a movable switching element connected to saidcapacitor and a contact connected to said potential source for chargingthe capacitor to the voltage of said potential source as the movableelement engages said contact, means including a second contact on saidswitch for closing said control circuit from the charged capacitor tosaid relay as the switching element is moved into engagement therewith,two sets of contacts on said relay operative alternatively to closedposition in successive order and so arranged that upon a momentaryclosure of the control circuit a capacitor discharge current flowsthrough a first of said sets of closed contacts to energize a first oneof said relay control windings and thereby disengage the initiallyclosed contacts of the first of said sets of contacts and connect theother control winding to said capacitor through the other set ofcontacts as the relay operates in response to the momentary energizationof said first one of the relay control windings, and a pair of condenserelements, one each thereof being connected across the respective controlwinding of said relay for delaying the operation of the relaysufficiently to reduce the charge on the capacitor to a value of voltageless than that required for reoperation of the relay as the othercontrol winding is connected to said capacitor.

3. A relay flip-flop circuit comprising a pair of cores, a pivotedmagnetized armature movable selectively into engagement with the endfaces of said cores, a pair of relay windings disposed about said coresfor causing movement of the armature into engagement therewithselectively as the windings are energized alternatively in successiveorder, a pair of condensers each of which is connected in parallel witha respective winding, contact means on said relay for selectivelyclosing a circuit to one of the windings when an end portion of thearmature is disengaged from the end of the core upon which therespective winding is disposed and adapted to interrupt the circuit tothe last named winding as the armature is moved to a position engagingthe end of said core, a storage condenser having one plate thereofconnected to one end of each of said windings, means for charging thecondenser to a predetermined potential, and means operable at will forconnecting the other plate of the charged condenser to said contactmeans thereby to energize one winding of the relay and charge thecondenser connected in parallel thereto to a value suificient to causethe relay to move said armature into engagement with the pole face ofthe core on which the coil is disposed, the capacity of each of thecondensers in parallel with the coils being such as to reduce the chargeof the storage condenser sufficiently to prevent reoperation of therelay as the other of said windings is connected thereto.

4. A flip-flop relay circuit comprising a relay having a magnetizedarmature arranged for pivotal movement in either of two directionsselectively, a pair of cores constructed and arranged for engagement bythe end portions of said armature at the face extremities thereofselectively in accordance with the instant set position of the armature,a pair of coils on said cores for energizing the cores alternatively ina manner to attract the ends of the armature thereagainst selectively inaccordance with the energized condition of said cores, a pair ofcondensers respectively connected across said coils, a storagecondenser, means for charging said storage condenser, means including aninput circuit having a switching element therein for connecting thecharged condenser to said coils selectively in succession in accordancewith the set position of said armature in a manner to charge one of saidcondensers and energize the coil associated therewith sufiiciently tomove the armature from a set position of rest in engagement with theface of the other core into engagement with the face of the core uponwhich the coil is disposed, the capacity of the condenser in parallelwith said coil being such as to reduce the charge of the charged storagecondenser to a potential insuflicient to reoperate the relay byenergization of the other of the coils until the storage condenser hasbeen recharged.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,394,021 Stone Feb. 5, 1946 2,407,418 Hanif Sept. 10, 1946 2,561,073Schouten July 17, 1951 2,694,758 Keen Nov. 16, 1954 2,702,841 BernsteinFeb. 22, 1955 2,802,078 Martin Aug. 6, 1957 2,817,806 Borell Dec. 24,1957 2,885,606 Clements May 5, 1959

